Aadhar cards for RTE admissions mandatory, participation in events and
application for scholarship under the Kerala RTE Rules (read more).
The government has decided to distribute benefits to children from
disadvantaged groups on the basis of a unique identification number.
The Kerala StateInformation Technology Mission (KSITM), along with
IT@schools is organizing camps to ensure that ll students obtain Aadhar
cards.
As per the Kerala RTE Rules, it is
mandatory for every local authority to ensure that an Aadhar card is
distributed to every child in order to maintain records. These records
must be maintained transparently and must be made available in the
public domain. Children’s enrollment, attendance, learning assessment,
and transition must be tracked within this system. Schools are also
under an obligation to maintain records of unique identification number
and other biometric information of all children. In fact, such records
also have an impact on the grant of recognition to schools.
It is worth asking the question – will
admission be denied to children from disadvantaged backgrounds for the
want of a unique identification number? When the state has a duty to
ensure completion of elementary education of every child, can the state
deny admissions to children who do not possess an Aadhar card? It is
also noteworthy that the rules do not mention the Aadhar Card as a
document for securing admission to schools. In case a child does not
have a birth certificate, the Rules allow the local authorities to
consider Hospital/Anganwadi/Mid-Wife/ Auxiliary Nurse register records
or an affidavit from the parents.